Hot Topics:

'Hanging Tree' a Western to remember

By Jim Willard

Posted:
07/09/2013 10:14:21 AM MDT

Reel Reminiscences: Those who know me well -- and I'm beginning to think there are more with every column I write -- recognize that I have a soft spot in my heart for the old Western genre among all movies of all time.

I first saw this gritty film while I was still in college. Although it garnered only one Oscar nomination, the work was notable for several reasons.

This was the next-to-last Western ever done by Gary Cooper. The movie introduced George C. Scott as a major player in a role as a mentally-unbalanced 1870s preacher. The theme song was performed by the late Marty Robbins; this title song was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans (it earned the only Oscar nomination).

"The Hanging Tree" was set in an 1870s Montana mining camp. Cooper played a doctor whose name, Joseph Frail, suggested a dark and hidden past. Maria Schell was cast as an immigrant who was the temporarily-blinded sole survivor of an Indian attack on an arriving stage. Karl Malden essayed the role of Frenchy, a lecherous miner who also coveted gold.

As the story unfolds, Dr. Frail saves the "pretty lady's" life and they gravitate to each other and ultimately discover a gold strike. Gold fever captures the miners and fuels the tale toward "The Hanging Tree."

The picture was shot in the Cascade Mountains offering beautiful scenery, and Max Steiner provided a strong score for the moving drama.

Advertisement

After watching the movie, I bought Robbins' recording of the title song in 1959. Decades later, I bought the VHS recording for inclusion in Willard's Classic Westerns Collection. The flick is worth a rent if you can find it.

It may surprise you that Algiers, Algeria (in Africa) is farther north than the town of Branson, Mo.

The act is an illegal time-saver that we see in many action films. More than 100 people jump the turnstiles every minute in New York City's subway system; few are in action films, they're just cheating the system.

In today's world of dating and of cellphones, maybe Sandra Bernhard's hope is a valid one, "Personally, I'm waiting for Caller IQ."

The first diet book published was Jean-Anthelme Brilliat-Savarin's "The Physiology of Taste" in 1825. In it, he urges people to avoid rolls, potatoes and cookies. His book is the source of the quotation "you are what you eat."

Four out of 10 women will say that they enjoy shopping. Two out of 10 men are willing to make the same comment.

Just another affliction many of us would happily suffer through. My references say that kissing causes wrinkles -- well that and old age.

Jim Willard, a Loveland resident since 1967, retired from Hewlett-Packard after 33 years to focus on less trivial things. He calls Twoey, his bichon frisé-Maltese dog, vice president of research for his column.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.